external description of him, so after all readers cannot guess what makes Hazel act in that way. The as-if blocks readers from agreeable meaning: in effect, we are
always unsatisfied on the threshold of meaning.
3.5 Comic
Hazel Motes sat at a forward angle on the green plush train seat, looking one minute at the window as if he might want to jump out
of it, and the next down the aisle at the other end of the car. The train was racing trough tree tops that fell away at intervals and
showed the sun standing, very red, on the edge of the farthest woods. Nearer, the plowed fields curved and faded and the few
hogs nosing in the furrows looked like large spotted stoned. Mrs. Wally Bee Hitchcock, who was facing Motes in the Section, said
that she thought the early evening like this was the prettiest time of day and she asked him if he didn’t think so too. She was a fat
woman with pink collars and cuffs and pear-shaped legs that slanted off the train seat and didn’t reach the floor. Fitzgerald,
1988: 1
This opening thrusts us immediately into O’Connor’s grotesque comic
world. The physical setting is sketched in very briefly; the emphasis is on the peculiarities of character. From the very first pages of the novel, Hazel is rude,
nervous, obnoxious, socially inept, and aggressively promoting his nihilist rejection of Jesus with everyone he meets.
All the theories of comic are based on some notion of incongruity, conflict, and juxtaposition of opposites or contradictory
http:davidlavery.netGrotesqueMajor_Artists_Theoriststheoriststhomsontho mson3.html. O’Connor uses these incongruity, conflicts and contradictions to
bring her readers into her comic world. Incongruity is used in serious and comic forms. Incongruous means not in
harmony or agreement, out of place. As example: it is incongruous that mind
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should see clearly and sometimes soar but the body should feed and sleep; that the human spirit should feel perennial and the matter of which spirit is a function
should be changing always. Since Wise Blood is a comic, It has incongruity. It is incongruous that Asa
Hawks, the city’s established sidewalk preacher, a fixture in black hat and dark glasses, who does not believe in Jesus but pretends he has blinded himself before
a crowd of people on the street without any result, such as salvation, rich purpose, etc, as we know he gets nothing since he pretends to be blind.
25 Ten years ago at a revival he had intended to blind himself and two hundred people or more were there, waiting for him to do
it. He had preached for an hour on the blindness of Paul, working himself up until he saw himself struck blind by a Divine flash of
lightning and, with courage enough then, he had thrust his hands into the bucket of wet lime and streaked them down his face; but
he hadn’t been possessed of as many devil as were necessary to do it, but at that instant, they disappeared, and he saw himself
standing there as he was. He fancied Jesus, Who had expelled them, was standing there too, beckoning to him; and he had fled
out of the tent into the alley and disappeared.
O’Connor’s main character, Hazel Motes faces external and internal
conflicts. The external conflict is the conflict between Hazel and people around him. Hazel has conflict with Sabbath who knows that Hazel cannot get rid of
Jesus 26. Hazel’s conflict with Hoover Shoats or Onnie Jay Holy, an “artist- type” who recognizes the Church Without Christ as a catchy idea and wants to
take it over and make some money from it, is his rejection on making money from preaching 27. This conflict causes Onnie looks for other preacher named Solace
Layfield. Hazel is in conflict with Solace Layfield because Solace imitates him, the way Hazel dresses and the way Hazel preaches, that makes Hazel angry and
then kills him 28.
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26. “I knew when I first seen you, you were mean and evil,” a furious voice behind him said. “I seen you wouldn’t let nobody
have nothing. I seen you were mean enough to slam a baby against a wall. I seen you wouldn’t never have no fun or let anybody else
because you didn’t want nothing but Jesus” “I don’t want nothing but the truth He shouted, “and what you see
is the truth and I’ve seen it” Fitzgerald, 1988: 107 27 “That’s why I want ever’ one of you people to join the Holy
Church of Christ Without Christ. It’ll cost you each a dollar but what is a dollar,” Onnie Jay Holly said.
“Listen Haze shouted. “It don’t cost you any money to know the truth You can’t know it for money” Fitzgerald, 1988: 87
28. “Two things I can’t stand,” Haze said, ”a man that ain’t true and one that mocks what is. You shouldn’t ever have tampered
with me if you didn’t want what you got.” Fitzgerald, 1988: 115
Hazel has conflicts with everyone he meets. Hazel face turns an ugly red
after a man pushes him back to the doorway when Hazel is waiting to get in the entrance of the diner Fitzgerald, 1988:6-7. Hazel is mocked by his friends in
army
4
The internal conflict is Hazel’s struggle that takes place in his mind. He keeps rejecting Jesus by preaching The Church Without Christ 29, but he cannot
get rid of the ragged figure who move from tree to tree in the back of his mind Fitzgerald, 1988: 1265. Though Hazel calls himself nihilist, his mind cannot
accept when someone mocks the ragged figure, like Enoch does , and is told that he does not have any soul Fitzgerald, 1988: 12. Hazel has
conflict with Enoch Emery too. He does not feel interested to what Enoch says and always avoid him Fitzgerald, 1988:13, 48, 49. Both look for “new jesus”,
but the difference is that Hazel’s quest is a matter of life and death, whereas Enoch can mount only a pathetic imitation.
5
4
In the novel, O’Connor writes that they were not actually friends but he had to live with them. Fitzgerald, 1988: 12
5
Enoch sends him a mummified “new jesus”
.
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29 “My church is the Church Without Christ, lady,” he said. “If there’s no Christ, there no reason to have a set place to do it
in.”Fitzgerald, 1988: 59 30 Haze snatched the skin off the floor. He opened the outside
door where the landlady thought there had once been a fire-escape, and flung out what he had in his hand. The rain blew in his face
and he jumped back and stood, with a cautious look, as if he were bracing himself for a blow.Fitzgerald, 1988: 106
Hazel feels uncomfortable in having sex with Mrs. Watts and seducing
Sabbath, Hawks’ daughter actually. Though his action of seducing is to prove that there is no sin 31, but his mind is not happy that makes him want to avoid the
women 32, 33. This is also the conflict Hazel has in mind he cannot do what he thinks he should do.
31 He felt that he should have a woman, not for the sake of the pleasure in her, but to prove that he didn’t believe in sin since he
practiced what was called it; but he had had enough of her. Fitzgerald, 1988: 62
32 Besides this reason, he didn’t want to go back to Mrs. Watts. The night before, after she was asleep, she had got up and cut the
top of his hat out in an obscene shape. Fitzgerald, 1988: 62 33 He abandoned the notion of seducing her and tried to protect
himself. Fitzgerald, 1988: 82
Kierkegaard, like Kafka, finds that the comical is present in every stage of
life, for wherever there is life there is contradiction, and wherever there is contradiction the comical is present Corrigan, 1981: 21. These contradictories
can be found in Hazel Motes. Hazel is O’Connor’s grotesque character who wants to do something but he does not want to. As example, Hazel wants to seduce
Sabbath Lily Hawks, but he does not want to 34. He rejects Sabbath violently when she wants to seduce him though in his mind, Hazel has a plan of seducing to
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prove that sin does not exist. It is laughable that Hazel leaves his notion of seducing Sabbath and tries to protect himself from her.
34 “What do you want to hide in my car for?” he said angrily. “I got business before me. I don’t have time for foolishness.” Then he
checked his ugly tone and stretched his mouth a little, remembering that he was going to seduce her. “Yeah sure,” he
said, “glad to see you.” Fitzgerald, 1988: 66
35 He trained his eyes into her neck. Gradually she lowered her head until the tips of their noses almost touched but still he didn’t
look at her. “I see you,” she said in a playful voice. “Git away” he said, jumping violently. Fitzgerald, 1988:70
The contradiction also could be seen between Hazel appearance and his statement toward people around him. On the opening page, we meet Hazel Motes
wearing a blue suit and with a stiff black broad-brimmed hat on his lap: and by both dress and manner looking for the entire world like a southern preacher.
However, Hazel himself denies it. He wears a preacher suit but he does not want to be called or considered as a preacher 36, 37, and 38.
36 He didn’t look, to her, much over twenty, but he had a stiff black broad-brimmed hat on his lap, a hat that an elderly country
preacher would wear. His suit was a glaring blue and the price tag was still stapled on the sleeve of it. Fitzgerald, 1988: 3
37 I never saw her before,” Haze said. Where’d you hear about her? She don’t usually have no preachers
for company.” He did not disturb the position of the cigar when he spoke; he was able to speak on either side of it.
“I ain’t any preacher,” haze said, frowning. “I only seen her name in the toilet.”
“You look like a preacher,” the driver said. “That hat looks like a preacher’s hat.”
“it ain’t,” Haze said, and leaned forward and gripped the back of the front seat. “It’s just a hat.” Fitzgerald, 1988: 16
38 They stared at each other for almost a minute and neither moved. Then he said in a voice that was higher than his usual
voice, “What I mean to have you know is: I’m no goddam preacher.”
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Mrs. Watts eyed him steadily with only a slight smirk. Then she put her other hand under his face and tickled it in a motherly way.
“That’s okay, son,” she said. “Momma don’t mind if you ain’t a preacher.” Fitzgerald, 1988: 18
Hazel preaches “The Church Without Christ”, but in fact he believes that
Jesus is exist. Hazel always looks for and follows a blind-self preacher, Asa Hawks, because he still has curiosity of Christ’s preacher 39, 40. This proves
that Hazel still has a doubt about his “The Church Without Christ” and can’t get rid of Jesus from his mind. Hazel thinks that someone who believes in Jesus and
could sacrifice himself must be a good person. Hazel believes in God existence because he still keeps in his mind that God is good 41.
39 Haze drew back “What’d you follow me for?”
“I never followed you,” Haze said. “She said you were following,” the blind man said, jerking his
thumb in the direction of the child. Fitzgerald, 1988: 27 40 That evening Haze drove his car around the streets until he
found the blind man and the child again. They were standing on a corner, waiting for the light to change. He drove the Essex at some
distance behind them for about four blocks up the main street and then turned it after them down a side street. He followed them on
into a dark section past the railroad yards and watched them go up on the porch of a box-like two-story house. Fitzgerald, 1988: 58
41 “You couldn’t be a bastard,” Haze said, getting very pale. “You must be mixed up. Your daddy blinded himself.” Fitzgerald,
1988: 67
O’Connor states that Wise blood is a comic novel 42. It is comic because the belief in Christ, that is the main matter in this novel, is a matter of life and
death. Hazel’s effort to get rid of Christ ends with Hazel’s accepting of Christ because his not being able to which results Hazel gets the redemption.
42. It is a comic novel about a Christian malgré lui, and as such, very serious, for all comic novel that are any good must be about
matters of life and death. Wise Blood was written by an author
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congenitally innocent of theory, but one with certain preoccupation. That belief in Christ is to some a matter of life and
death has been a stumbling block for readers who would prefer to think it a matter of no regret consequence. For them Hazel Motes’
integrity lies in his trying with such vigor to get rid of the ragged figure who moves from tree to tree in the back of his mind. For the
author Hazel’s integrity lies in his not being able to. Does one’s integrity ever lie in what he is not able to do? I think that usually it
does, for free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. Freedom cannot be conceived simply. It is
a mystery and one which a novel, even a comic novel, can only be asked to deepen.” Fitzgerald, 1988: 1265
Wise Blood is a comic novel for it gives the readers comic figure, named Hazel Motes and Enoch emery. They are comic because they are laughable
6
Ruskin says that a fine grotesque is the expression, in a moment, by a series of symbols thrown together in a bold and fearless connection, of truths
which it would have a long time to express in any verbal way, and of which the ,
isolate themselves from God and from society. Wylie Sypher writes that the comic figure is the fool Corrigan, 1981: 39. The fool can be the seer and the prophet.
Hazel and Enoch are seers of “new jesus” 43 44. The fool may be dwarfed and deformed. Enoch deforms his human form into a gorilla Fitzgerald, 1988: 111-
112 43 The Church Without Christ don’t have a jesus but it needs
one It needs a new jesus Give me such a new jesus and you’ll see how far the Church without Christ can go” Fitzgerald, 1988: 80
44 An unintelligible sound spluttered out of Enoch. He tried to bellow, but his blood held him back. He whispered, “Listen here, I
got him I mean I can get him You know Him Him I shown you to. You seen him yourself” Fitzgerald, 1988: 81
3.6 Symbol
